News: Terrorism and fundamentalism

The U.S. Supports Germany in Sanctioning Iran Regime's Mahan Air

Written by Mohammad Sadat Khansari on 24 January 2019.

By Mohammad Sadat Khansari

The German government sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air on Monday, which means that their planes will no longer be able to land in German airports, citing the airline’s use by the Iranian Regime to transport money and fighters to terrorist proxies across the Middle East, as well as prop up the Bashar Assad regime in Syria.

Germany’s decision to sanction Mahan Air helps to protect Europeans from Iran regime’s terrorism, stands with the Iranian and Syrian peoples, and deals a blow to the Iranian Regime and all of its terrorist proxies and regional stooges.

The other countries who continue to allow Mahan Air to operate inside their borders give the airline false legitimacy and ignore that Mahan’s largest customer, the Iranian Qods Force, has been described by the European Union as “Tehran’s principal foreign policy tool for special operations and support to terrorists and Islamic militants abroad”.

Mahan Air’s Terrorist Transfer

Iran wants Assad in power so that they can turn Syria into a proxy state as part of their Shiite Crescent across the Middle East despite the grave humanitarian cost to the Syrian people. Mahan Air transferred Qods Force fighters, weapons, equipment, and money to the Assad regime on behalf of the mullahs in Iran, mainly under the guise of “commercial” flights to Damascus from Iran.

Mahan Air also helps to transfer Qods operatives, arms, and funds to terrorist groups across the region and the world. Essentially, Mahan Air is complicit in Iran-sponsored terrorism. Mahan Air’s close relationship with the Qods shows yet again how easily the Qods can take control of the commercial sector, which is why it’s so dangerous for international companies to do business with Iranian companies.

Richard Grenell, the US Ambassador to Germany, wrote: “The United States fully supports Germany’s leadership on this issue, and calls on other nations to end Mahan Air’s access to foreign airports. The United States sanctioned Mahan Air in 2011 for providing financial, material and technological support to the [Qods]. We hope the EU will now enact its own sanctions on Mahan Air… Iran’s use of commercial entities such as Mahan Air to perpetrate terror and violence will be greatly inhibited by Germany’s decision. This announcement by the government of Germany sends a clear message: Iran must end its support of terror and destabilizing behaviour in the Middle East, Europe, and around the globe.”

After all, it’s not as if the threat of Iran regime-backed terrorism doesn’t reach Europe. In the past year, there were at least five instances of Iran-backed terror plots or assassination attempts in EU member states, identified by the governments of those member states. In fact, Iranian intelligence operative and diplomat to Vienna, Asadollah Assadi, was arrested in Germany for his role in bombing a Paris-based Iranian opposition rally.